Ryunosuke Kusaka

Ryunosuke Kusaka (25 September 1893-23 November 1971) was the Chief-of-Staff of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Biography
Ryunosuke Kusaka was born on 25 September 1893 in Tokyo, and he was the cousin of Jinichi Kusaka. He graduated from the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1917 and became a Rear Admiral in November 1940 on the eve of World War II. As the chief-of-staff of Chuichi Nagumo's Japanese 1st Air Fleet, he was involved in planning out the Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He was wounded at the Battle of Midway when his ship, the Akagi, was critically damaged and Kusaka convinced other Japanese admirals not to commit seppuku after the defeat. In November 1944, as a Vice-Admiral, he served as Soemu Toyoda's Chief-of-Staff with the Combined Fleet. On 17 August 1945, he commanded the Japanese 5th Air Fleet for one day after Matone Ugaki committed seppuku after Japan surrendered to the United States. He died in 1971 at the age of 78.